Xbox Live Gold Members, run to the Xbox Marketplace right now. There is a FREE demo of Guitar Hero: Metallica up there.

Brilliant move by Activision and Microsoft, if you ask me. I’m guessing pre-orders are not as high as anticipated, so they are trying to bring up the buzz.

For me, GH: World Tour is a disappointment on drums, but good on vocals. The only reason I’d be interested in the Metallica game is for drums. So, if Activision did a good job charting drums (i.e. like the Harmonix guys did with Rock Band), I’ll buy it. If not, no thanks.

I have queued up the free demo from the www.xbox.com web marketplace, and can’t wait to get home tonight to play. What say you?

So the details surrounding the upcoming iPhone software came out today. Looks like the phone will now be even with the Motorola ROKR or the 1st version of the Q. What’s tough is that I love my iPhone, but have to be honest and write lines like the previous one.

Here are the highlights:

Copy/cut/paste

MMS

Multiple photos in one email

Spotlight (sort of like Desktop search on PC)

Stereo bluetooth

Autofill

Notes Sync

Turn by turn capabilities

Wi-Fi autologins

YouTube accounts

Landscape for mail and texts

Text forwarding

Peer to Peer

A bevy of developer features that are going to lead to really slick apps (I refuse to count the apps until they exist)

Nothing sounds quite like a…Beastie Boys album announcement. I’m fired up and intrigued by the news posted on Wikipedia today by what appears to be MCA. Read the Wiki post. What do you think?

[Thanks RTG for sending this one in.] Source: Wikipedia

Tadlock’s Glasses: 2009–present

Bassist Adam “MCA” Yauch has revealed their forthcoming new album has taken the rap collective in a “bizarre” new direction.[29]

“

It’s a combination of playing and sampling stuff as we’re playing, and also sampling pretty obscure records.

”

They have tentatively named the record Tadlock’s Glasses, after a former tour bus driver, who was once presented with a pair of glasses by Elvis Presley.

The band are set to tour in the summer.

Speaking to BBC Five Live at the Independent Spirit Awards in Los Angeles, Yauch said the collective are currently putting the finishing touches to their new album.

“

We’re tweaking some mixes and we’re going to master it in the next couple of weeks.

”

The record comes nearly two years after their Grammy Award-winning instrumental LP The Mix-Up.

“

There are a lot of songs on the record and there are a lot of short songs and they kind of all run into each other.

”

Of the title he explained: “We had a bus driver years ago who used to drive Elvis’ back up singers. His name was Tadlock and Elvis gave him a pair of glasses which he was very proud of. So for some reason that title – Tadlock’s Glasses – has just been bouncing around.”

No firm release date has been set for the record. The group will tour the UK later this year in support of the new record.[29]

Have you been hemming-and-hawing over buying Guitar Hero World Tour? Is it too expensive for you? Do you already have Rock Band 2 and not sure if GHWT will be as good?

Get ready to find a reason to buy the GHWT Complete Band Kit. Our Amazon store has it on all consoles for $119.98 ($118.98 on PS2). UPDATED That’s 70% $70 off the retail price of $189.99. That’s an incredible price.

You get the new Guitar Hero drum kit (compatible with Rock Band 2 and Guitar Hero: Metallica), the new Guitar Hero guitar, a wired microphone, and the Guitar Hero World Tour game. It works out to less than $30 per component.

I got the GHWT Complete Band Kit a couple months ago when Circuit City had their clearance sale. I got it for $151, and was happy with the price. This price point is just incredible, especially since buying the drums separately is $100. If you are thinking about it, hurry up before they are gone. It’s a one-day only deal!

If you want my opinion of this set, here you go:
* Drums: They are so much better than the Rock Band 1 drums. Nice to play on (and play fine for Rock Band 2). Quite with good bounce. Works awesome for GHWT, though the layout for Rock Band 2 takes a little getting used too. Kick pedal does not attach to kit, so if not on carpet can slide around. Drums have midi-out, so you can easily connect a real electronic drum kit to play on.
* Guitar: Haven’t used it yet.
* Mic: Looks just like the Rock Band mic, but seems to be more responsive than the Rock Band mic.
* Game: Great set list. Awesome sound, very good background graphics. Decent foreground graphics. Vocal tracking is great and realistic (in my opinion). Drum charting is not as good as Rock Band; I’ve played a few undercharted songs on the drums and that is disappointing. I love singing on GHWT, but don’t love drumming. I’m not a guitar expert, so I can’t give a good opinion on that.

You may know that I love my Xbox 360. You may also know that I have a Wii, which I also love…but all I have is Wii Sports and Wii Fit. The standards.

Nothing on the platform really jumps out at me, since the games that are on both consoles are always better on Xbox 360. Plus, the Wii only games, just don’t interest me that much. Of course, I love Wii Fit and Wii Sports. I am saving up and looking for a deal on Wii Play. Why? For the free Wii Remote included.

Though, I wonder what the future holds for the Wii, for me (and my family). I know of one game that I’m really looking forward too. Punch Out. If they do a decent job on that game, I will pick it up (assuming it’s priced under $50.) FYI, if it’s not a game for drummers, I won’t pay over $50. Punch out, that could be great, if they do it right. I have a feeling, it will be decent.

Browsing the web this weekend, I see what’s going on. Nintendo, EA, and others are about to capitalize on the success of Wii Fit. Lot’s of workout apps and other apps that make use of the Wii Fit Balance Board.

As for games that take advantage of existing controllers (i.e. Balance Board), bring it on. As for more workout games. Really? Another running game, another yoga game, more punching bags. Well, take a look for yourself what’s on the Wii horizon.

Are you looking to stock up on some new Wii games? Are you looking for some cheap older games? Are you all set with the Wii?

Pick Up the Pieces
Shining Star
Get Up
Thrash Unreal
All the Things That Go to Make Heaven and Earth
Use It
Last Resort
Lifeline

This station contains artists from the ever growing collection of Rock Band downloadable content (DLC). So far, all artists (as of 3/13/2009) from A – Z are categorized. I have also hearted every exact song match from the DLC catalog that exists in Slacker, and will continue to update and heart on a regular basis. As of today, 388 songs from the DLC collection have been hearted. Enjoy, Rock On!

Sorry this is a little late this morning. I literally forgot it was Friday. It’s been a long week. At any rate it is pretty epic next week. We have a awesome Funk Pack with James Brown, Average White Band, and Earth Wind & Fire. We have a song from Against Me! Two from The New Pornographers, and two from Papa Roach. BAM! The announcement of next week’s Wii tracks will come on Monday per usual.

This will not only be a very competitive high-level Tournament for several games but also a fun event for the casual gamer to attend and have fun hanging out with friends and playing games!

Here’s where we need YOUR help!

If this sounds like something that you are even remotely interested please go to www.gameunicon.com and preregister! It’s very important to respond to the email we send you later to confirm you preregistered.

It’s FREE and very important to make this convention happen!

You only have to fill out your Name and Email. Please include the Tournament or reason why you would attend Freeplay, bands etc… in the comment section.

We will NOT give out your personal information but we will be able to present a number of people interested in attending to entice more sponsors, bands, dealers to help us and GET MORE MONEY AND PRIZES TO GIVE AWAY!

Tickets and Tournament actual registration will be available soon but preregistering will really, really, help make this Convention more awesome!

Also, check out or Forums, still pretty rough and in beta. Please create an account and leave a post or two (to make sure things are working alright).

Finally, this site is something I (and some friends) run in our spare time. We earn a whopping zero U.S. dollars to keep it up. We do this for fun. I spend the cash out of my pocket to keep things running year round, and enjoy it. So, if you see something in our Store that you might want, please buy it from our site. I do everything I can to hand-pick great deals.

That’s about it for now. If you haven’t been here before (or it’s been a while), scroll through the past 2+ years of blog entries. You can learn about me and other bloggers in the About page. Lot’s of stuff on Rock Band, BlackBerry, Xbox 360, iPhone, Guitar Hero, Treo, music news, and other random obsessions.

Lately, I have been playing a fair amount of Rock Band 2, with friends, family and on Xbox Live. Drums are my instrument of choice, followed by vocals. I always play on Expert, even if I may fail out of a song. There’s something about playing the song the way it was intended that matters most to me.

Last night, I played a few songs on drums. Some as duals, some by myself. Generally, I do not get 100% or full-combo (FC) on any song, since I only play a few hours a week. (I love the game and the music, but don’t dedicate my life to it.) Most of the top tiered songs on Rock Band 2 are so difficult on drums that I barely attempt to play them. If I do play them, I typically fail out. The photos below, tell the story of my recent accomplishments.

My player name is 8 TRAK, so you can see how I compare in the duals. First, I FC’d “I Think I’m Paranoid” and won by a slim margin in the dual. This song has been around since Rock Band 1, but I think this is the first FC I got on this. Then in another close dual, I won and got 100% on “My Own Worst Enemy”. I was two beats away from a FC, but missed two beats in the final 10 seconds of the song. Granted, neither of these songs are considerd difficult to most players, but I’m happy with it.
[ad#post-banner-ad]
Now, onto one of the most difficult songs on Rock Band 2, Panic Attack. Prior to last night, I had never finished the song, except n No Fail Mode. I figured I’d give the song a try last night, in the Prog Rock Challenge, with all intentions of failing out at some point. Seven and a half minutes later, I’m wailing away on the last wall of 32nd notes and finished the song. 88% and four stars. Not a great score, but I actually finished it, and then completed the Prog Rock Challenge (which unlocked two more difficult challenges).

I shut the Xbox 360 off last night feeling pretty good about this one. It was a solid night on the drums, and I’m looking forward to some more Panic Attack, and some more duals.

So, let hear about your latest accomplishments in Rock Band 2. Leave em in comments below, or in the new Forums thread.